In 1973, there was a sad incident involving a baby named Darren Jason Shannon, born in 1972, in Australia. On June 9, 1973, when he was just 11 months old, he went missing.
His father, Barry Shannon, took him and disappeared, but tragically, Barry got into a deadly car accident about two hours later. Despite a thorough search, little Jason was not found at the accident site, and he has never been found since.
While it is now believed that Jason Shannon may have passed away, possibly as a victim of foul play, the police have also considered the possibility that Barry Shannon might have given his son to someone he knew to raise in secret before taking his own life.
There is a reward of up to $1 million for anyone who can provide information about Jason Shannon’s suspected murder or reveal where his remains might be.
Disappearance
Jason Shannon was taken by his 26-year-old father, Barry Shannon, during an access visit at the home of the baby’s maternal grandparents in the Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth West on June 9, 1973, at approximately 7:15 p.m. Barry and Michelle Shannon, Jason’s parents, had recently agreed to a temporary separation. After an incident where her husband had hit her, Michelle Shannon moved in with her parents on Blackdown Street in Elizabeth West. Barry Shannon had been visiting his son daily during this separation.
When Barry Shannon was leaving the property with baby Jason, the baby’s maternal grandfather, Alfred Hinde, attempted to stop him. Hinde chased him in his own vehicle but couldn’t locate him. Two hours later, Barry Shannon was involved in a fatal head-on collision with another vehicle on Main North Road near Roseworthy at around 9:15 p.m. The two occupants of the other vehicle were taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Despite an extensive search of the crash site, baby Jason Shannon was not found, and his whereabouts remained unknown. Several days after Jason’s disappearance, the police expressed hope of finding him alive but admitted that the time between Jason’s ab*uction and Barry Shannon’s car crash was causing frustration. Michelle Shannon made a public appeal on local television to help locate her baby son.
The police called off the search for Jason Shannon on June 15 but noted that detectives were pursuing several leads. In 1974, six months after losing Jason, Michelle Shannon, and her parents left Adelaide and returned to their native United Kingdom. She later remarried, had one son, and is now known as Michelle Swift. In 2016, Swift mentioned that she still held a faint hope that her son might still be alive. In November 2015, Swift returned to the crash site where her former husband was k*lled to lay flowers.
Investigation
In 2016, the South Australia Police Major Crime Investigation Section focused on two key theories concerning the disappearance of Jason Shannon.
The first theory suggested that Barry Shannon, Jason’s father, may have m*rdered his son and concealed the body before intentionally causing a fatal car crash as a means to end his own life. This theory was supported by evidence and reports, indicating a tragic and grim possibility.
The second theory proposed that Barry Shannon might have left his baby son in an unoccupied residence or entrusted him to the care of a friend or family member, concealing Jason’s whereabouts from everyone else. This theory was particularly plausible given that Barry Shannon’s parents had expressed their desire to have custody of the child following the separation.
Detective Sergeant Cameron Georg, discussing the case in 2016, emphasized the significance of investigating the possibility that Barry Shannon had secretly entrusted his son to someone else’s care. It was noted that the paternal grandparents had expressed their wish to raise Jason.
Georg urged the public to come forward with any information related to this theory, stating, “The paternal grandparents wanted Jason to stay with them. With this background, maybe he had given the baby to a friend, relative, or someone close to raise the baby as their own. If this was the case, we would very much like to hear from anyone who can shed any light on this…”
Detectives also explored whether Barry Shannon’s now-deceased brother and parents had left any estates or assets to individuals matching Jason Shannon’s age upon their respective deaths. However, this line of inquiry did not yield any promising leads.
Furthermore, in 2016, investigators delved into information suggesting that Barry Shannon had formed a close bond with a female patient while receiving treatment for a mental illness at the Fullarton Private Hospital. This aspect of the investigation could potentially provide valuable insights into the case.
Reward
On the Crime Stoppers South Australia website, Jason Shannon is classified as “missing, presumed m*rdered.” In an effort to encourage the public to come forward with information related to his suspected d*ath or the location of his remains, a substantial reward of up to $1 million is being offered to individuals who provide information that ultimately results in the conviction of those responsible for his presumed m*rder or leads to the discovery of his remains.
The most recent articles and information about the case are from 2022 and 2023, but they do not contain any new developments or breakthroughs in the investigation.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Disappearance of Jason Shannon, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License